Today’s New York Times reports "A Rise in Kidney Stones Seen in U.S. Children," naming high sodium intake of processed foods as one of the culprits, sending wee ones into urology clinics (no pun intended). Ever since the multimillion dollar marketing blitz sanctifying sports drinks as a 'better for you' beverage I've watched kids chug down those colossal sized jugs of neon … [Read more...]
The name alone is a winner. “Parents For Ethical Marketing.” It’s universal, inclusive, and makes my name generation synapses smile (metaphorically, grammarians; hold the e-mails). When PEM founder Lisa Ray (formerly of the incisive, razor-sharp blog, Two Knives) approached me about her desire to start an organization to encourage corporate ethics in … [Read more...]
That’s my official FCC filing at left, (squeaked in under the deadline today, explained why later) which emphatically states kids should be OFF LIMITS to embedded ads designed to bypass the Tivo tactics of wise wee ones who blip through traditional commercials to get back to their favorite show unscathed. I've written about this a lot before, vetting thoughts about … [Read more...]
I vote sage. But you probably figured that. Sunday's Kids Pick the President Nickelodeon News special fell off my radar...even with Linda Ellerbee’s encouragement to get in the practice of voting, “because the next four years affects your future as much as any adult.” (ahem, maybe more, kidlets!) Truth is, I missed posting yesterday because kids were … [Read more...]
As MyDebates.org gives kids a MySpace forum for Social Studies classrooms to attempt to instill a civic sense of ‘how it all works’ with “Who won? Who lost?’ Who made the stronger case?” it makes me ponder if we're perhaps asking kids the wrong question entirely. I'm all for teaching kids how to watch a debate, and giving media literacy … [Read more...]
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